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HOW U.S IS HELPING INDIA TO COUNTER CHINA? - Duration: 7:55.
China's sweeping claims of sovereignty over the sea have provoked competing claimants
Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, Taiwan, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Non-claimants like USA, India, Australia & Japan want the South China Sea to remain as international
waters with freedom of navigation.
Over the past few years China has used a rapidly expanding navy and coastguard to enforce its
claims to reefs and rocks far out at sea.
China has employed dredging fleets to build artificial islands, runways on them and have
set up military infrastructures.
They have chased Philippine and Vietnamese fishermen from disputed grounds, poached in
neighbor's exclusive economic zones
Recently China tried building a high-mountain road in sparsely populated Dokhlam plateau
in western Bhutan, which was thwarted by Indian forces.
These events clearly outline China's increasingly aggressive behaviors and have brought US and
India closer.
The world's oldest democracy and world's largest democracy is now joining hands to
counter China.
Since 2016, India has been designated as a "major defense partner" of the US.
US has said that it will treat India "at a level at par with that of the United States'
closest allies and partners".
US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to deepen their defense
and security cooperation.
In this video, we look at HOW US IS HELPING INDIA TO COUNTER CHINA?
Lets get started.
Ski-jump aircraft carriers like India's INS Vikramaditya have limitations, regarding
how much ordnance can be loaded on the aircrafts.
Steam catapult aircrafts of similar category can carry 3 times as much as payload compared
to ski jump aircrafts.
But steam catapult used in American Nimitz class requires a lot of steam piping, a large
condensate return, and tons of fresh water.
They also have a lot of maintenance issues.
Plus, with steam-actuation, the majority of the force is being transferred to the airplane
at the beginning of the stroke—in a jolt.
This puts stress on an airframe, and thus reduces lifespan of the multi-million dollar
planes.
EMALS (Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System) installed in Ford class uses linear induction
motor with an electric current to generate a magnetic field.
That field then propels a carriage down a track.
Since the power delivery is linear, it negates the deficiencies of steam catapult.
It's also lighter than a steam catapult system and cheaper to operate.
Due to its flexible architecture, EMALS can launch a wide variety of aircraft weights
and can be used on a variety of platforms with differing catapult configurations.
It is a state of art technology and only Ford class has it.
India had sent a letter of request to the US government during the Obama administration
for EMLAS built by General Atomics for INS Vishal aircraft carrier, which is currently
in design phase.
INS Vishal will be India's first super carrier.
The Trump administration sent a response to India recently about its decision to release
this technology.
It must also be noted that, US is assisting in different aspects of engineering INS Vishal.
On November 30 last year, India signed the Letter of Agreement and Acceptance (LOA) with
the US to buy 145 M777s through the foreign military sale (FMS) route.
The M777 howitzer is a towed 155mm artillery piece, is a successor to the M198 howitzer.
It is manufactured by BAE System's Global Combat Systems division.
This is first major buy for the Mountain Strike Corps.
The Mountain Strike Corps has been specially raised to defend India's border with China.
The M 777 is designed with weight & size in mind.
It is lighter than any other 155 mm howitzer having a weight of only 4,100 kg
The lighter weight and smaller size allows the M777 to be transported by the C-17 & C130J
aircraft, CH-47 helicopter as well as trucks with ease.
This will give Indian Army tremendous flexibility in operations, especially in mountainous terrain.
Under Make in India initiative, the gun's assembly, integration and testing will be
shifted to India.
The US has cleared the sale of predator Guardian drones to India.
The Indian Navy had made the request for this intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance
(ISR) platform last year.
This purchase of drones manufactured by General Atomics marks the first of its kind from the
US by a country that is not a member of the NATO
The Sea Guardian is a variant of the tested MQ-9 platform.
This unmanned aircraft can fly for 40 hours uninterrupted.
With the inclusion of Guardian Drones, India's range to keep a watch in the Indian Ocean
will increase manifolds and help keep a tab on Chinese vessels.
India and the US last year underscored their military partnership with the signing of a
deal worth over $1 billion for the purchase of 4 additional Poseidon-8I long-range maritime
surveillance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft.
The contract is a follow-up order to the 8 P-81 planes already bought by India in a direct
deal with Boeing's Indian subsidiary worth $2.1 billion in 2009.
The P-8I is a long-range anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance
and reconnaissance aircraft capable of broad area, maritime and littoral operations.
Equipped with the sophisticated Harpoon missiles, lightweight torpedoes and rockets, the Indian
Navy has been using the P-8I to keep watch over the Indian Ocean, which has seen forays
by Chinese submarines including the docking of a Chinese nuclear submarine in Sri Lanka.
India and the US had signed an important agreement in 2016.
The Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) allows them to use each other's land,
air and naval bases for repair and resupply.
With the signing, this long-contemplated logistics agreement finally become operational.
This is a major step toward reinforcing defense ties.
LEMOA simplifies logistic sharing.
Here is the benefit.
The U.S. Navy plans to deploy 60 % of its surface ships in the Indo-Pacific in the near
future.
Instead of having to build facilities virtually from the ground up, as in Afghanistan and
Iraq, the U.S. now has the benefit of using the tremendous Indian facilities.
US have large number of bases around the world and this will be strategically very helpful
for India.
This is a significant step keeping in mind the growing Chinese naval might and is a win-win
for both US & India.
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